Romans 6, and I want to read
the first 11 verses. What shall we say then? Shall
we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid, how shall
we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not
that so many of us as were baptized unto Jesus Christ were baptized
unto his death? Therefore we are buried with
him by baptism unto death, that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should
walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead
is freed from sin. Now, if we be dead with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ,
being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion
over him. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord." May God give us ears this morning and hearts
to enter into this message. I need utterance to preach it,
and you need a heart to understand. My message this morning is union
with Christ. Union with Christ. Now, Paul
begins in verse 1 here, and he says, What shall we say then? What shall we say to what? What
shall we say then? Well, it refers us back to Chapter
5, verse 20. He says here in verse
1, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? And he just made this statement
in verse 20. For over the law entered that
the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. You and I have been studying,
a week or so ago, how sin entered this world by our first father,
Adam, and how it spread. Remember that? By one man's disobedience,
sin spread to all of us. It made all of us sinners. And
by one man's offense, you and I were condemned. We were proved
guilty by his offense. By one sin, Adam died and you
and I died in him. Sin abounded. It's abounded in
our minds. It's abounded in our thoughts.
It's abounded in our members. Sin abounds in society. Sin abounds. But thank God the Apostle said
we're sin abounded. Grace did much more abound. When the Lord Jesus Christ came
to this earth, it was grace that brought Him here. Grace abounded
and brought the Savior down. And when He came, the apostle
tells us here, look at this in chapter 5. Look here at a couple
of verses with him. Look in verse 16. And not as it was by one that
sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one,
by one sin, to condemnation. That condemned us all. But the
free gift is of many offenses unto justification. All the offenses
that you and I have committed, grace has justified. And look
what he says in verse 17. For if by one man's offense death
reigned by that one man, much more they which receive abundance
of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one. Adam's sin brought death. Grace brings us life. And look
what he said in verse 18. Therefore as by the offense of
one, Judgment came upon all men to condemnation. But look what
grace has done. Even so, by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men to justification of life. And look in verse 19. For as
by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Sin brought Judgment,
it brought guilt, it brought death, but grace brought us life. Grace brought us justification.
Grace brought us righteousness where sin abounded. Grace did
much more. Now, Paul comes here to chapter
1 and verse 6. And the carnal mind always jumps
to a conclusion about grace. Paul says, since we've already
stated that where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Now
here's what the carnal mind will conclude. Therefore, let us continue
in sin, that grace may abound. Ain't that the way men think?
Since grace abounds over sin, let us sin more and more and
more. That way grace will be manifested. But he answers this here in verse
2. Look at this. God forbid. It can't never be. It's just not that way. You know, I don't know of anything
that the carnal mind, natural men of this world, jumps to conclusion as well as they do concerning
the grace of God. There's something about free
grace, abundance of grace, that will automatically make men jump
to some wrong conclusion. He does it again. Look here in
the same chapter. Look down here in verse 14. Look
at this. For sin shall not have dominion
over you. It shall not rule you. For ye
are not under the law, but ye are under grace. He says you're
not under the law as a covenant of works. You're not under the
law as a rule of life. You don't look to Christ to be
saved and look to Moses to stay saved. You don't look to Christ
for eternal life and then look to the law to learn how to live.
You don't look to Christ and believe on Him to be justified
and then look to the law to be sanctified. You are not under
the law. Free from the law. Oh, happy
condition. Jesus has bled, and now there's
a mission. How are you saved then? You're
under grace. For by grace are you saved through
faith. That's not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God. We have been saved by God's grace. We are being saved by God's grace.
And we shall be saved by the grace of God. It was grace that
taught my heart to fear. You just told us didn't you?
And grace my fears relieved. And listen to this. It was grace
that brought me safe this far. And it's grace that's going to
lead me home. It's grace. Electing grace. redeeming grace,
regenerating grace, calling grace, keeping grace, glorifying grace. Sovereign, free grace of God
that's in Jesus Christ. We're saved by grace. We're not
under the law, we're under grace. Well, what's the natural mind
conclude then? Well, look at it in verse 15.
What then? Shall we sin because we're not
under the law, but under grace? See how the carnal mind jumps
to that conclusion. I remember preaching one time
on law and grace, and as soon as I got out of the pulpit, and
this happened to me more than once, as soon as I got out of
the pulpit, a man met me and he said, you mean to tell me
a believer is not under the law? I said, I didn't tell you that's
what God told us. And he said, how do you know
how to live? Do you just sin? Because grace, brothers and sisters,
has never taught anybody to sin. There's never been a first man
that grace led you into or tempted you to sin. That's not the nature
of grace. What did Paul tell us in Titus
2.13? The grace of God that brings
salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us. Grace doesn't
teach us to steal or to kill. or to bear false witness, or
to commit adultery. Grace teaches us that denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously
and godly in this present world. And when you come to say men
aren't under the law who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, well,
then let us sin. Let us continue on with sin then,
if we don't have the law to restrain us. Men jump to conclusion when it
comes to grace. Did you hear about old so-and-so
over there at the Sovereign Grace Church, what he did? That awful
sin that he committed. There's what the doctrine of
grace will get you. Don't blame grace when men sin. I tell you what to blame when
men sin. Blame the sinful heart of that man who sinned. Grace
don't lead men to sin. Every man is tempted when he's
drawn away of his own lust and enticement. That's where the
problem is right here, ain't it? It ain't grace. It ain't
grace. It's sin. Shall we continue in
sin that grace may abandon? God forbid. God forbid. And the word here expresses an
absolute denial. I deny it, Paul said. I deny
it. Shall we continue in sin that
grace may avail? I deny it. It cannot be. For many reasons, and I could
give you many reasons this morning, but I don't want to leave the
context. I want to stay in the context.
Look back with me again now in the context. Paul makes a statement
here in verse 2, look at this, and here's the reason that he
gives that a believer cannot live any longer in sin. Look
what he says, God forbid, how shall we that are dead to sin
live any longer therein? He says by virtue of being dead
to sin, you cannot live in it anymore. You cannot serve it
anymore as you used to. He doesn't say how that comes
to pass. He just proclaims it. He says
the man that's dead to sin and he don't stop and explain it.
What does it mean to be dead to sin? He just says if you're
dead to sin, you can't live in it anymore. You can't serve it
anymore. He'll tell us later what it means
to be dead indeed not to sin. But some people have speculated
in verse 2, what does it mean to be dead to sin? And brothers
and sisters, let me encourage you this morning to take this
seriously. This is so serious. Because if a man is not dead
to sin, we can conclude that he is going to continue in sin.
The reason he does not here, according to the text, is because
he's dead to it. He's dead to them. Now what does
it mean for a man to be dead to sin? Does it mean that he's
dead to his influence? If that's what it means, I bet
you nobody here this morning is dead to sin. Does sin ever
influence you? You know, you think about doing
something. You desire to do something. You seem to be led in the direction
to do something. And then after you did it, you
found out it was sin. Does sin ever deceive you? Does
it ever influence you? It does, doesn't it? It influenced
Peter to deny the Lord. Influenced David to commit adultery.
Influenced Noah to get drunk. No, it doesn't mean we're dead
to it. It's influence. If that's so,
we wouldn't be told to watch against sin and to pray against
sin. Not be hardened through the deceitfulness
of sin. I don't think we're dead to its
influence. By the time you think you are, it's going to sneak
up on you and influence you to do something. And you're going
to find out you just sinned. Does it mean dead to its power? Are we dead to sin's power? I know we're dead to sin's dominion.
It doesn't rule over us as a king. We don't bathe in that sin. But
you know we're not dead, it's power. You feel it's working
in you, don't you? The flesh luster. That word means
wars against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.
And you can read here in the 7th chapter of Romans, and you
see the power that was working in this great apostle. And he
couldn't stop it. And we know it don't mean dead
to the presence of sin, because Paul said, when I would do good,
evil is present with me. If a man says he has no sin,
he's just deceiving himself. If a man says sin has no influence
over him, he's just deceiving himself. If a man says it's not
working in him, and it takes the grace of God to subdue it
in him, he's just deceiving himself. What does it mean to be dead
to sin? Paul will tell us later. He just comes to this conclusion,
if we be dead to sin, we cannot serve any longer. Now in verse
3 and 4, I want you to look at this with me. And what Paul begins
to teach us here is of our union with Jesus Christ and our baptism It represents this union that
we have with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what is baptism? I'm talking
about water baptism. What is it? What is baptism? First of all, it's a picture. It's a symbol of death. Now he tells us that, look here
in verse 3. Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized
unto Jesus Christ were baptized unto His death? But this is very important. You
may have noticed this as I read this passage. It's not our death
that it symbolizes. It's His death, ain't it? That's
what we read all down through you. Look in verse 5. If we have
been planted together in the likeness of His death, It's His
death that our baptism symbolizes first and foremost. What else
does it symbolize? Well, number two, it symbolizes
a burial. Look at number four. Therefore
we are buried with Him by baptism unto death. When they took the
Lord Jesus down from the cross, They checked his pulse, they
examined him, and they said, he's dead. What do you do with
a dead man? They put him away. They put him
out of their sight. They put him in a tomb. Baptism
represents the burial of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it represents
something else. Look at this. It represents a
resurrection. A resurrection. Look at the last
portion of verse 4. that life as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection." What is baptism? It's a symbol of the
death of Christ, the burial of Christ, and the resurrection
of Christ. But it's more than that. It's also our profession
and symbolic of our union with Him. See what He says all the
way through here? Look again. Look here again.
In verse 4, look at this. Therefore we are buried with
Him. See that? Our baptism is saying
that we died with Him. We were buried with Him. It's a profession that when Christ
suffered on the cross, we suffered with Him. When He was put in
the tomb, we were buried there with Him. And when He raised
from the dead, we were raised with Him. I want you to look
over here at the verse of Scripture with me in Colossians. Look over
to your right. Go over to your right. You run
into Corinthians? Just keep going to your right.
You run into Philippians? And then the next book will be
Colossians. Look here in chapter 3. Look in Philippians chapter 3. Look in chapter 2 first. Look
in chapter 2. Look here in chapter 2. That's where
I want to go first. Look in verse 12. Here it is
in verse 12. Buried, chapter 2 in verse 12
of Colossians. Buried with him, in baptism,
wherein also ye are risen with him." See that? You're buried
with him, you're risen with him. Glenn, that's what your baptism
sets forth. Not only that Christ died, you died with him. Christ
was buried, you were buried with Him. And now look at this, wherein
also you are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of
God, who raised Him from the dead, and you being dead in your
sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened
together with Him, having forgiven you all trust So what is water
baptism? It's these two things. It shows
forth the death of Christ, His burial, and His resurrection. And it shows forth our union
with Him. I wish I understood this when
I was baptized. All I knew when I was baptized
was that Christ was baptized and I want to be baptized too.
He commanded and I love His commandments, don't you? I wish y'all understood. Boy, when they put me down in
that watery grave, that this symbolizes my union with Him
who loved me and died for me. And when I came up out of there,
this was symbolic of His resurrection and I raised with Him. That's
what water baptism does. That's what Paul's teaching us
here in this chapter. A figure, a likeness, a picture,
a dead of the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And it professes
our part with Him. Our union with Him. Now look back over here in verse
5. I want you to hold cautions because I want to come back in
just a minute to chapter 3 perhaps. But hold cautions to chapter
3 and look back over here at our text. Look back over here
at our text. Paul carries this symbol, one
step further, here in verse 5. He's just been telling us now
that we died with Christ, we were buried with Christ, and
we rose in Christ. And he says in the last portion
of verse 4, even so we also should walk in newness of life. A spiritual newness. That's what
water baptism says when we come up out of the water. We're a
new creature. We've got new desires, got a
new life. We walk in newness of life, a spiritual resurrection. But now look what he says in
verse 5. He takes this symbol one step further. And look at
this. If we have been planted together in the likeness of His
death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection. Now he says, Not only is it a
spiritual life, but our water baptism represents and is symbolic
of a life that's yet to come. A physical resurrection. Ain't
that what he said? We shall be in the likeness of
his resurrection. We're planted together in the
likeness of his death. Water baptism is not a reality,
but it represents something that's real. It represents the risen
body of Jesus Christ, and it represents that someday we're
going to really raise to it, physically, and be just like
Him. We shall be like Him in the resurrection. Now let me quote Colossians 3
to you. If you then have been risen with Christ, if you're
risen with Christ, and that's what your baptism proclaims,
you're risen with Christ, Seek those things which are above,
where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection
on things above, not on things on the earth. Now listen, for
ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. And listen, when Christ who is
our life. See how close this union is.
When Christ suffered, we suffered with Him. That's what our baptism
says. When He was buried, we were buried with Him. When He
raised, we raised with Him. And now He says, Christ who is our
life, He was our death, wasn't He? When He died, that was our
death. And He's our life. He's our sin. Don't the Bible say He's our
sin? He's our righteousness. He's our curse. He was made a
curse for us. He's our blessing. He's our hell. He's our heaven. He's our life. And Paul said, when our life
shall appear, then we'll be there with Him. In glory. A resurrection. A resurrection. Baptism is a
symbol. But a symbol of that which is
real. It's real. It represents a vital
union with Him who died for us and rose again, who is in heaven,
who is our everything. Baptism is not a symbol of a
symbol. You understand what I'm saying?
It's a symbol of that which is real. We take the bread and the
wine here on Sunday evening. That's a symbol. But it's a symbol
of something that's real. We take that broken bread and
we eat it. That's not the body of Christ.
But it's symbolic of His body. And just as that bread was broken
with one of the lady's hands, His body was really broken. And
just as we drank that wine, that's symbolic of His blood that is
real. God graciously gives us these
symbols to help us to relate to that which is real. And that's
what Paul gives us here in Romans chapter 6. He said that which
your baptism is symbolic of is real. You were really with Christ
when He suffered, and when He died, and when He was buried,
and when He was raised. He was with Him. Now look here
in chapter 6, in verse 6, look at this. Now He's going to teach
us the reality of what baptism is only a symbol of. Look in
verse 6. Knowing this, he gives us the symbol, what it represents.
But now he says, I'm going to teach you the reality of what
baptism represents. Knowing this, that our old man,
what is that? We know what that is, don't we?
That old man, that old nature of Clarence, that's what it is.
He calls it in chapter 7, old wretched man that I am. Ephesians
chapter 4 verse 22, he says, put off the old man which is
corrupt according to the deceitful lust. Our old man, now look at
this, our old man is crucified with Him. Now that's reality. That's reality. Our old man was crucified in
the body, upon the body, with the body of the Lord Jesus when
He hung on Calvary's tree. My goodness, no wonder then.
No wonder he groaned. No wonder he said, my heart is
melted in the midst of me. No wonder it got dark. No wonder
the Scripture says he endeared the cross and despised the shame. No wonder God forsook him. No
wonder he grew weak and groaned in spirit. Our old, sinful, corrupt,
wretched man was crucified in His body with Him. Ain't that amazing? That's reality. That's reality. You say, Bruce,
I don't feel like He was. I feel like He's still with me
today. Well, we have to look at things the way God looks at
them. And Paul said, what baptism represents, our union with Christ,
really took place. Our old man is crucified with
Christ. He's hanging there upon that
cross. Why? Why? That our old man is
crucified with Him. Why? Look at this, that the body
of sin O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the
body of this death, that the body of sin might be destroyed? What happened to that old man
when Christ took him to himself and he hung there on the cross?
He was destroyed. Remember what the Lord said,
destroy this temple? You destroy this body. You take
my body. I give it to you. You nail it
to the cross. You whip it. You crown it with
arms. You hang it up there between
heaven and earth naked. Shame it. Mock it. Whip it. Subject it to the judgment of
God and the awful wrath of God. And finally, to death, destroy
this body. But in destroying my body, for
a time, you destroy the body of sin forever. The old man is
destroyed. You say, Bruce, I just don't
feel like he's destroyed. I feel him working in me. Here's reality. In the mind of God, the old man
was hung on the cross with Christ. In the Kingdom of Christ, brethren,
this is reality. Not only reality, don't you?
Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Christ, that
the body of sin might be destroyed. You know what would happen if
God looked upon you and He saw the old man still alive? He'd
judge you in a minute. He'd condemn you and He'd destroy
you in a minute. But we go on here through chapter
7 and all this warfare, and we see this old man rising up against
the new man, and all this warfare, and then we come to chapter 8
and verse 1, and Paul makes this amazing statement. In spite of
this awful warfare that's going on in the soul, he says, there
is therefore now no condemnation. There's no judgment of God to
those who are in Christ. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sent his own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh, and as a sacrifice for sin, he
put sin to death in the flesh. That's what he said. The old
man was taken in union with Jesus Christ, the blessed Son of God.
And he was destroyed. He was destroyed. Look in the
last part of verse 6. That henceforth we should not
serve sin. Paul doesn't explain how that
happens, does he? But he says this, since our old
man was crucified with Christ and destroyed, therefore we don't
serve sin. We don't deserve to serve Him.
He just declares that it's so. And you and I know it, don't
we? We can't explain how it happens either. We know it's true. We
believe it's so. And we feel it in our hearts
that it's so. Look here in verse 7 now. For he that is dead, for
he that died, who died? Who died? Who have we been studying
about here in this chapter? Not you. Not me. But Christ died, didn't He? Look at this. For he that died
is freed. He's justified from sin. Jesus Christ hung on that cross.
He suffered for sin. He atoned for sin. And He put
sin away. And when He raised from the dead,
Glenn, there's no sin on Him. He's justified from it. Not one
charge can be brought against the Son of God. He's free from
it. And what Paul is saying here,
since Christ is free from it, those who are united to Christ
are free from it as well. Isn't that what he's saying?
Look in verse 8. Now, if we be dead with Christ,
is Christ free from sin? Then we're free from sin. Isn't
that what He said? Blessed is the man to whom God
will not impute sin. Why? There is no sin. There is no sin. Did Christ die? Did He suffer for sin? Did He
put sin away? Did He raise justified from sin? Were you with Him? By virtue
of your union with Him, then, you are as free as justified
from its guilt as He Himself is. That's what Paul is teaching
us in this chapter. Union with Christ. Union with
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he says in verse
8, the last portion of verse 8. Now, if we be dead with Christ,
if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with
Him. We believe that, don't we? Well,
that stands to reason, brothers and sisters, if we suffered with
Him and we were buried with Him and we rose with Him, not only
in a spiritual sense, But in a real physical sense, we shall
live with Him. His resurrection assures us of
our resurrection by virtue of our union with Him. Let not your
hearts be troubled. Don't despair and grow discouraged
and despondent because of this body of sin and this warfare
that's going on within you. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it wasn't so, I'd have told
you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I do, I'll return
again and receive you unto myself. That's where I am. Father, I
will that those that you've given me be with me where I am." That's
what Paul said. The Lord Himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
the dead in Christ shall rise, and we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with Him to meet the Lord in the air,
and so shall we ever be with the Lord. If we died with Christ,
we are risen with Christ, and we shall soon be with Christ. That's why Paul said, we believe
that. We believe that. Who believes that? Every child
of God believes that. And these apostles taught that.
Look over here with me in one more place. Look over in 1 Peter. Look in 1 Peter. Chapter 1. Peter believed this and he taught
it. 1 Peter 1. And look here in verse
3. 1 Peter 1, verse 3. If we rose
with Christ, if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall
live with Him, according as His divine power hath given unto
us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the
knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue. whereby
are given unto us exceeding..." Brother, I'm sorry, I read the
wrong place. Look in 1 Peter. If you go to 1 Peter, I'm in
2 Peter. I'm in 2 Peter. Now look in verse
3. "...blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that's incorruptible,
undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you."
How is our hope of a life to come, a resurrection to come,
how is that linked to the resurrection of Christ? He's begotten us unto
a lively hope by the resurrection of Christ. Well, we're so one with Christ. We're in such union with Him
that His resurrection is our resurrection. Ain't that wonderful? That is
wonderful. In Adam, all die. That's the
effects of sin. But in Christ, everybody who
is in Christ shall be made alive. physically alive. Live with Him. We believe. Paul said, we believe
that. If you don't believe that, it
ain't going to have any effect upon you. But if you believe that, you
rejoice in it. Union with Christ. Look back
over there at text again. Not only will we live with Him,
but knowing this, look back over in verse 9. Knowing that Christ
being raised from the dead, He died no more. Death hath no more
dominion over him. He died one time and he'll never
die again. Ain't that what he said? I was
dead, he said, but I'm alive now. I'll never die again. I'm alive forevermore. And one
of the most blessed truths that you and I could ever learn Those
believers who are raised at the resurrection, they'll never die
again. I have no idea what's going to
take place in heaven. All the things that's going to
be there and take place there, what kind of place it is, it's
a wonderful place. But one of the most joyful things,
one of the most comforting things about it, those who are blessed
to inherit that place shall never die. They shall never die again. How do we know that? Christ being
raised from the dead, He dies no more. And we're in union with
Him. Death has no more dominion over
Him. Now look in verse 10, and we'll
close with this verse, the next two verses. And Paul's going
to explain here what it means for us to be dead to sin. He finally gets around. Now he
said up here in verse 2, How shall we that are dead to sin?
Well, he's going to tell us how you and I are dead to sin. Verse
10, look at this. For in that he died, Christ died. He died unto sin. Once. Did Christ die to the influence
of sin? That's almost blasphemous to
say that. Sin never influenced him. He said, the prince of this
world comes and he finds nothing. He'll find nothing in me. There
ain't no sin in me. There's nothing in me that appeals to the devil,
he said. He never was influenced by sin. So it's not saying that
Christ died to the influence of sin. He didn't die to the
power of sin. Sin never worked in him like
it does in us. What does it mean then when he
said he died unto sin once? He died to its gift. He died to his condemnation.
He cut sin to himself. And he condemned sin. And sin
condemned him. Sin put Christ to death, and
Christ put sin to death. Ain't that what happened? But brothers and sisters, both
of them didn't stay dead. That's impossible that both of
them. Who raised? Look at chapter verse 10, verse
4. But in that he that liveth, he's alive. And he lives unto
God. How did Christ die to sin? When
He said He died to sin, what did He do? He died to the guilt
of sin. That's what He died to. He atoned
for it. He suffered under its guilt.
And He died to that guilt. And he put it away. And now,
since he died to it, he lives unto God. When Paul is saying here in verse
2, How shall we that are dead to sin? What he is really saying
is Christ died to sin. And then by virtue of our union
with Him, what happens? We're dead to it, too. Look what
he said in verse 11. Here's the key to the way it
applies to us. Likewise, even so, conclude this,
that ye also yourselves have died indeed unto sin. That's reality. That's reality. You are in Christ this morning.
You are as dead to the guilt of sin as He is. And He is alive to God and lives
in unbroken fellowship to the Father. Is there anything between
the Lord Jesus and the Heavenly Father this morning? Nothing
is unbroken fellowship, unbroken communion, unbroken love. He liveth unto God. Now, he says in the last portion
of verse 11, you consider yourselves, by virtue of your union with
Christ, to be as dead to the guilt of sin as he is, and therefore
alive to God through Jesus Christ, and you live in unbroken fellowship
with the Father by virtue of this union with the Lord Jesus
Christ. I've never lit up on a subject
that I've had more difficulty explaining, but I've never lit
up on a subject that's more joyful when I can get just a glimpse
of what the Apostle is talking about. Union with Jesus Christ,
brothers and sisters, is a real thing. God counts it to be so. And as long as you and I cannot
see our union with Christ, we're going to be fighting against
this guilty conscience. And we cannot fellowship with
God with a guilty conscience, Kevin. If this guilt is standing
between us and God, all we see is His frowning face. We cannot
enjoy Him. We cannot serve Him. We're always
doing something to put this guilt away. But when we see ourselves
and we believe ourselves in union with Jesus Christ, that He truly
died to the guilt of sin, and we were with Him, and therefore
we're as dead to its guilt as He is. Oh, then we see the Father's
smiling face. Then we see the Father's love
and His goodness. Then we enjoy Him. Some of you here this morning,
bless your hearts, you're miserable. You're miserable in your conscience.
You're miserable in your heart. And you're trying to face God
in yourself. You're trying to get better. You're trying to
do better. There's nothing wrong with that, but you're trying
to commend yourself to God. You'll never get good enough
to do that. Look younger on the right hand
of God. Behold the Lamb of God. And see
yourself and believe yourself united to Him. And say to your
sin and your guilty conscience, no matter how I feel, I know
this, that when Jesus Christ suffered, I suffered with Him.
When He died, I died with Him. When He raised, I raised with
Him. My guilt is gone. My sin is gone. I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then you'll see God's smiling
face. Then you'll see God's gracious side. Then you'll rejoice. And then, without even knowing
how, it happens. You'll notice that you've got
a different attitude towards sin. You cannot continue anything
alone. You cannot serve it any longer.
There's something about disunion with Christ that kills sin in
your heart. You hate it. You loathe it. And
even when you commit it, oh, you don't do it with a willing
heart. You repent of it. And you confess it. And He forgives. Oh, gracious Father, Father in
Heaven, what a grand and wonderful subject. All for faith. For a heart to
believe it. for understanding to enter into
this glorious and wonderful subject. Father, your ways are not our
ways. Your thoughts are not our thoughts. We're so earthly, we're
so worldly. Bound with these earthly unions
and ties, we can't grasp your ways. Give us a heart. Give us a heart to see the Lord
Jesus Christ. Give us a heart to know and believe
and have the assurance of our interest in Him. We feel sorry
for this poor world, this poor religious world, having no union
with Him, without any hope, without God in this world. I pray for
your little children here this morning. Give them understanding
of this truth. Open your heart. Open their hearts.
Let them see the truth of this. Open some poor lost souls' understanding. Give them faith. Give them eyes
to see. Even this morning, for the glory
of Christ, we pray. Amen. Brethren, we'll see you tonight,
6 o'clock. Lord bless you.